Chapter 1 #2
He’s rooted to the spot, transfixed by the grotesque metamorphosis I’m trying desperately to stop.
“Please!” I beg him. If Max doesn’t run, the beast’s instincts might take over completely, leaving him vulnerable to an attack.
His hesitation could mean the difference between life and death, as I may not be able to control the primal urges surging through me.
Every second he remains there, frozen, brings him closer to a fate neither of us wants to imagine.
My teeth elongate, fur covering my body as I will my body not to snap and pop.
If I complete the shift, I’m not sure I can reverse it until the moon drops.
“Bree?” Max whispers as a howl pierces the night, one that doesn’t belong to me.
Others are near; I can smell them so strongly now.
They want to hunt; they want to chase. Shoving Max, he stumbles out of the treeline when I notice the river; I know it runs at the back of the castle grounds, and hope flares in my chest.
We reach the river, its waters a black mirror reflecting the moon above.
The other wolves close in, emboldened by the scent of fear and the promise of a she-wolf.
They’re shadows flitting between the trees, circling, hungry for the hunt.
As my gaze tracks them on the other side of the river, I grit my teeth, knowing if I shift completely, Max stands no chance.
“Stay behind me,” I command, my words barely recognizable. My body moves of its own accord, instincts honed by countless moons taking over. Max’s eyes widen in terror, his breath coming in quick, shallow gasps. He clutches onto my arm, his knuckles white.
“Bree, they can smell us, can’t they?” he stutters.
I don’t bother answering.
Max’s face is pale, his chest heaving with terror.
He knows, as do I, we’re no longer alone in these woods.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t—” His words are cut off with a shriek as one wolf backs up and charges toward the water.
A vicious snarl leaves it as it jumps from rock to rock, trying to cross, only to disappear into the treeline further up the river.
The air vibrates with growls, a sinister chorus that chills my already fevered blood.
“Max,” I whisper urgently, my voice a rough echo of my human self. “Stay back.”
I let out an involuntary cry, dropping to my knees in front of a shocked Max.
The shift is taking over, and there is no turning back now.
My skin feels as if it’s on fire, my bones dislocate and snap as they rearrange themselves.
Sweat breaks out across my forehead as I fight to keep conscious - not for myself, for Max.
He is still too close.
He is still not safe.
My human features are slipping away beneath fur and muscle as every bone in my body screams in protest. The phone drops from my hands and skitters across the hard ground.
Max takes another step forward, his small hand reaching out for me. “I’m not afraid…”
“No!” It’s a roar now. My voice distorted as my body bends and twists.
Terror flashes in his eyes, but it’s too late–he's seen too much. Two hulking forms emerge from the shadows, their eyes gleaming like molten silver in the moonlight. They’re here for me, driven by instinct and the allure of the full moon.
“Run…” It’s the last coherent word that makes it past my lips before the change is complete, ripping away my humanity.
I crouch low, teeth bared, as the first wolf lunges. Its jaws snap inches from my face, but I’m fast–fueled by desperation. Claws meet flesh, mine against theirs. Vicious and brutal. The second wolf joins in, aiming for my flank, I whirl around. Teeth and claws.
I can’t afford to lose, not with Max so close. I feel a rib crack under the force of a massive paw, pain flaring hot and bright. It only serves to sharpen my focus.
With a ferocious howl, I tear into the throat of the attacker, blood hot on my tongue.
The other wolf hesitates, sensing the turn of the tide, and I seize the moment.
Bones crunch beneath my jaws, a finality that echoes through the stillness as his neck snaps.
The one that tried to cross from the river suddenly steps out of the tree line too and barrels toward me, only to stop mid-jump.
The chaos pauses as clouds drift over the moon, casting a brief shadow. My form shivers, reshaping into something fragile and human. I collapse onto the cold ground, naked and slick with blood; each breath is ragged when the other wolf shifts back.
“Fuck!” he curses, his gaze turning upward to the moon, as he rushes off for the trees, trying to put distance between us. “You should know better than bringing a kid out in the woods on a full moon!”
“Thanks, asshole!” I growl, staring at the body of the other wolf.
He shifted back, so I know I’ve killed him.
Guilt gnaws at me as I stare at the lifeless body, the weight of my actions settling heavily on my shoulders, knowing, like the other two, he couldn’t help himself.
If given the chance, he probably would have run away like the other two once the moon was obscured.
No wolf likes the idea of hunting she-wolves and mating them.
It’s just something she-wolves have learned to accept since there is no stopping it; the men are slaves to their instincts, just as the she-wolves are.
Staring at the man, I try to tell myself it was self-defense, a necessary evil to protect Max, yet the hollow justification offers little to remove my guilt.
Now I worry about when the moon is uncovered by the clouds because this body could be Max.
“Run,” I plead again, the word a broken whisper. “Please, Max, you need to run!” I clutch at the dirt, trying to cover myself. His face is ghostly pale in the dim light, his eyes wide and unseeing.
Once again he’s frozen, immobilized by fear, shock, or both. The silence is heavy, suffocating, until the moon glides free from the canopy above us. Silver light floods the clearing, and agony lances through me as another shift begins.
“Max!” I cry out, my bones contorting. “Your dad—”
“He’s on the way,” he stammers, fear battling with concern. “I mindlinked him.”
“Go!” I manage before the beast surges forth, drowning the last vestiges of humanity. As my vision tunnels into predatory focus, I see him, still a statue of dread.
Muscles tense, fighting the inevitable, I dig my feet into the damp earth, using every ounce of my will to hold back the beast clawing its way out.
“Not yet,” I mutter through gritted teeth at the damn moon. It’s a losing battle; my skin ripples with suppression as my eyes look for anything to help me from shifting before my gaze goes to the racing river, then Max.
“Bree?” he murmurs as I listen to the crash of the river on the rocks of the waterfall at the end of it. The chances of me surviving a fall like that are slim and if I do, I won’t survive the rocks at the bottom once the waterfall pins me down. What choice do I have? I won’t let my beast hurt him.
Max’s voice is a distant echo, his figure blurring as my eyes start to betray me, shifting from human to wolfish sight. He needs to be safe—I need to be away from him. Now.
“Stay…” I begin. Swallowing a howl, I pivot on my heel and bolt.
The waterfall roars in the distance behind him. That’s it—my chance to evade the impending shift long enough for Max to escape me. The pounding of the water syncs with my racing heart as I near the cliff’s edge. The air is heavy with mist, the scent of pine and river mud thick in my nostrils.
“Please, just a bit further,” I beg myself, the words lost to the wind.
However, there’s no stopping it now. A painful jolt surges through my spine, and I stumble, almost sprawling onto the dirt. My body betrays me, the shift erupting from within as if my flesh is merely a cocoon being shed.
With the last shred of my humanity clinging to the precipice of the abyss, I leap at the same time Max’s scream pierces the air, loud and bloodcurdling. The rush of air past my ears is a fleeting freedom. The water below surges up to meet me, a cold, unforgiving embrace.
I hit the surface—a shock of icy pressure enveloping me, dragging me deeper. Water buffets me from all sides, disorienting, smothering. In the tumultuous depths, the transformation completes, and the beast takes over, thrashing wildly against the current that seeks to claim it.
Sucked under by the relentless force, I’m pulled away, away from Max, away from the threat I pose to him. The water’s roar drowns out everything else, and darkness swallows me whole.
I spiral down into the watery vortex, deeper and deeper as the pressure increases, squeezing against my shifted form.
My lungs burn for air, my senses heightened as I struggle for control.
My transformation is now complete; the beast is fully awakened within me, its primal instincts rising to combat the harsh currents that threaten to crush me.
Sudden tranquility seizes me as I feel my lungs start filling with water. Perhaps the beast has surrendered to the water, accepting its fate with a grace I never believed it possessed, as I am battered against the rocks.
Beneath the water, the moon disappears, and the cold seeps into my veins, quenching the burning fire that once thrived.
The beast’s fury subsides as the icy tendrils wrap around my body, slowing my thrashing and stilling my heart as the shift takes me back to myself.
I sink deeper into the void, swallowed by its merciless silence, and then darkness swallows all the light.